MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — The Baldwin County commission and the Milledgeville City Council and have been working towards a new Service Delivery Strategy contract for years, but they didn't meet their July 1 deadline on a new agreement. Now, some people in the county are being legally denied services.
James Greenway said when a kitten arrived on his lawn, he was worried it could be feral.
"I was hissed at. I was growled at. I was kind of backed up into the corner of the house by the animal," Greenway said.
Greenway lives in Milledgeville on East Camden Street. It's less than a mile from the Baldwin County animal control office. Greenway called animal control to remove the animal, but they told him they could not legally remove the animal because of ongoing of service delivery strategy disagreements between the county and the city of Milledgeville. The county manager said legally, they cannot do anything for city citizens.
"Without a service delivery strategy agreement we are prohibited by law to provide animal control services in the city," Tobar said.
Greenway said that was the wrong answer while his 9-year-old daughter is in the same area as a potentially-dangerous animal. He's had to keep her inside the house since the cat arrived on Friday and is worried she could be bitten or scratched.
"The child's going to have to go through all the pain and the suffering of having shots and medication to treat whatever disease the cat's carrying," Greenway said.
Greenway wants the county and the city to put away their differences and come to an agreement for the sake of the citizens paying taxes for services.
"It bores down to the safety of the citizens of Milledgeville and Baldwin County," he said. "That's what it's going to bore down to, and when I feel that my family is at danger because you're not wanting to provide me services, we've got a problem."
Milledgeville City manager Hank Griffeth said anybody in the city who's having animal issues can call Milledgeville Police. If it's still not resolved, call the city manager's office at 478-414-4008.
The city and county signed a separate agreement to continue funding library services so they won't shut down during the disagreement.